Month: April 2011

Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald – Both Diaz and MacDonald are tough. I’m not a fan of either of the Diaz brothers, but they sure come to fight. This should be a good one.Prediction: Diaz by decision.

Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson – Ben Henderson may be the best fighter that nobody knows. That should all change now that he’s in the UFC.Prediction: Henderson gets the decision.

Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida – Randy Couture is one of my favorite fighters. How can you go against Captain America? The only thing that worries me is that Couture has said, “Win, lose, or draw, this is my last fight.” THAT bothers me. Still, I think that Couture will be able to force the action and if he gets Machida down or against the fence, the battle is won.Prediction: Couture by decision.José Aldo (c) vs. Mark Hominick – As Ryan Cody said: “Aldo is a beast. Beast! He wins via TKO…”Prediction: Aldo by TKO or KO.

Georges St-Pierre (c) vs. Jake Shields -This should be a great fight. Shields is coming in as a 5 to 1 underdog. I think that the odds are way off on this one. GSP should win, but I’d lay a bet on Shields if I had 5 to 1. If GSP can take Shields down [which I think he will], what then? We’ll find out tonight.Prediction: GSP by decision.

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I guess I’m old fashioned. Or maybe just old. You see, I like the books I read to be real… not some digital concoction that you read from a machine. I love being able to read a great book and then place it in my collection on my bookshelf. But that’s not what this post is about.

What this post is about is the fact that Anthony Neil Smith, the author of two excellent crime novels featuring bad cop Billy Lafitte is offering a super deal on the first, titled Yellow Medicine. Starting May 1st at 2pm you will be able to get a copy of Yellow Medicine for just 99 cents. The idea is to get everyone who wants a copy to jump on at the same time and get Yellow Medicine on the charts.

At 99 cents the novel is a steal. Heck, I paid a lot more than that for my hardcover copy and the story was so good, I thought I got a bargain. So if you read your novels from a screen, then give Yellow Medicine a try. [And if you’re like me and want a “real” book then order up one here.]

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When we moved down from Indiana in 1973, Florida was known as The Sunshine State. Families flocked to Florida to spend time in Daytona Beach aka “The World’s Most Famous Beach,”Disney World aka “The Magic Kingdom” & “The Happiest Place on Earth,”Marineland in our nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine, etc. etc. etc. Florida was considered such a family-friendly location that it was often the destination of high school students’ senior trips.

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LoveFilm, a British video rental service, recently surveyed folks to find out if they’d ever lied and said that they’d seen movies that they really hadn’t. Surprisingly, 80% admitted that they had. Here’s the Top 10 Movies People Lied and Said They’d Seen…

The Godfather – saw it many times and it’s one of my all time favs.

Casablanca – saw it many times and it is also one of my favorites

Taxi Driver – saw it and didn’t care for it

2001: A Space Odyssey – saw it and hated it. Tried again years later and still didn’t like it.

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If you’re in the market for a car, you might be interested to know that the car used in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” is up for auction. So far there’s only been one bid and it didn’t meet the reserve… despite the fact that the bid was one million dollars. Don’t worry about me trying to jump in and get it. I’m still holding out for the Batmobile from the 60’s tv series.

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Mike Torrance aka The Krayola Kidd did this for me last year. I thought I had posted it, but…

Mike Torrance is an artist who does it all — he pencils, inks and colors. You can see more of Mike’s art at The Daily Sketch with The Krayola Kidd and his Deviant Art site. You’re also going to be happy to know that once a month Mike has a contest for someone to win a free sketchcard! Mike is available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable. Check him out.

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I like something in almost every genre or type of music. Pop, rock, blues, disco, gospel, oldies… you name it and I can tell you artists and/or songs I like. Truth be told, I really didn’t know much of anything about cigarbox guitar music. One thing I do know is if the genre as a whole is a good as “If I Had My Way: A Cigarbox Guitar Tribute to Blind Willie Johnson” then I’ve been missing out big time. You can check out and even download the album for free right here.

Oh, and by the way, Thomas Boatwright did the very cool CD Cover. You can see more of Thomas’ art here and here.

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One of my all-time favorite graphic novels is Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. I was pleased to read in The Hollywood Reporter today that a feature length animated adaptation is in the works with Bruce Timm on board to executive produce. Timm indicates that the production will closely follow the graphic novels story and look when he says:

“The source material is surprisingly cinematic; it’s a pretty straight forward literal retelling… Mazzucchelli’s artwork is beautifully composed and we were able to refer to the comic for about 80 percent of the camera setups.”

Ben McKenzie will provide the voice for Batman/Bruce Wayne and Bryan “Breaking Bad” Cranston will do the same for Liet. James Gordon. You can read more about the production here and here.

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The drawing above is of a character created by Chris Warner called Black Cross. He made his first appearance [Black Cross, not Chris Warner] in Dark Horse Presents #1. DHP #1 was an anthology and the first comic published by the folks who would go on to give us Frank Miller’s Sin City, Eric Powell’s The Goon, Hellboy by Mike Mignola, and on and on and on.

Black Cross was popular enough to spin off into a mini-series, a couple of stand alone short comic stories and a one-shot. At one point, Black Cross was close to becoming a big screen feature with Howie Long in the title role. At about the same time another Black Cross mini-series was in the works called “My War.” Neither it or the movie ever happened.

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JoBlo broke the news today that Thomas Jane is set to join Sylvester Stallone in “Headshot.” Walter Hill is set to direct the adaptation of the crime comic published as “Bullet to the Head.”Stallone plays a hitman and Jane a NYC detective who are brought together after a series of murders. According to Jane…

He’s a hitman, I’m a cop, and we’re just opposite in every ******* way, and we need each other to get this job done. And of course I’m like, ‘As soon as this job’s over, I’m going to take you to jail, you know, you’re a killer.’

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Jason Statham is in negotiations to star in the thriller “Parker” with Taylor Hackford directing… based on the book series by Donald Westlake [aka RIchard Stark], [and] revolves around a thief who, though at times is forced to be a killer, still lives by a code of honor that includes never stealing money from people who need it. His word is his bond, and if he is crossed he will strike back relentlessly.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Richard Stark’s Parker novels as well as the graphic adaptations by Darwyn Cooke. I also enjoyed Lee [“Point Blank”] Marvin and Mel [“Payback”] Gibson in movies based on the Parker character. I have little doubt that Taylor Hackford directing Jason Statham will be welcome additions to the Parker legacy.

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Matthew Warlick provided the sketch above of Rocky Balboa as a bonus for purchasing his sketchbook. Matthew is no stranger to the SZ. Here he provided us with a video of when he inked a very cool Jack Carter sketch. Thanks to Matthew for sharing his talent! – Craig